Hey, guess what? This version of WordPress is really old, I haven’t updated this blog in forever, and I graduated! I’ll keep this thing around because I think many people have used it as a resource. Also, who knows if I might someday try for a PhD? Until then, have a great summer, stay cool, K.I.T. etc.

I just hardly post on this blog anymore. But I do post on my personal blog. It just sorta makes more sense that way, since it usually has a higher readership on average. I posted my thoughts on the current internship hunt that I’m facing. I thought it might be useful for people who have already gotten into grad school, and who are looking for a good internship for the Summer.

I just got a rejection email from Iowa State. They certainly took their time to inform me of my rejection! On behalf of Jim Oliver, HCI graduate program chair, thank you very much for your application to our graduate program. We are very pleased to be able to consider students such as you. However, we only accept students for whom we can provide research assistantships. Unfortunately, we receive applications from many more highly qualified students than we are able to support.

I applied to the UC Irvine Bren School of ICS under the informatics track. Sadly, today I was denied admission via email. So now I’m 2 for 6 in applying to grad schools with 3 of the 4 rejections being concrete, and one in the air. UC Irvine did seem like a pretty cool place to apply for grad school, so I’m a little bummed that I didn’t meet their requirements.

I got a letter in the mail today from Virginia Tech. Surprisingly, it was an acceptance letter! I got into their CS program! Pretty cool. The letter came fairly late, though, and without any mention of scholarships, so I’m assuming I’m one of their second or third tier choices. I’ve already accepted to go to Michigan (with a nice funding package), but it’s nice to see that I made it into another program at least.

I just got a call from Lisa Gray-Lion regarding the status of my University Library Associates application. I think I said “yes” before she even officially asked me to accept! I’ll still have to fill out some paperwork, but I think it’s safe to announce this. The associates position pretty much relieves all the worries I had about getting financial support to go to grad school. I was looking at the University of Michigan entry on Wikipedia last night, and I learned that it’s the most expensive public school in the country for out of state students!

I wrote about my visit to the University of Michigan School of Information Visiting Days on my personal blog yesterday and forgot to put a link to it. You can read about my experience here. Cliff Notes edition: I thought the program was nice, the people were incredible, and I feel very good about the program with only a few reservations that I can live with.

Okay, so this news is sorta late, but I figured I’d post this anyway. Remember how I wrote about how Georgia Tech wasn’t responding to my emails? I finally got a response! A rejection! Yeah, that’s right, Georgia Tech only takes the time to respond to a candidate when they’re rejecting them. How nice. Here’s the letter: Dear Hung: I’m sorry to inform you that your application to Georgia Tech’s MS program in Human-Computer Interaction has been declined.

I just got an email from Judith Olson about some changes in the specialization choices at The University of Michigan’s School of Information MSI program. Originally I had applied under the HCI (Human Computer Interaction) specialization because it was the closest thing to what I really wanted to study, Social Computing. I’m happy to see that Social Computing has its own specialization in the MSI program now! This is really cool!

When I applied to the University of Michigan, I also sent an application for the Library Associates program. This program allows MS students to work in one of the university’s libraries and get real life work experience while also paying for school. The associates receive: Full tuition waiver Half-time, two-year appointment at University Library (1035 hours per year) with a salary of $21,657.80 per year (adjusted annually) Eligibility to attend Library-sponsored workshops and training events Eligibility to choose from several health plans Enrollment in group life insurance Wages are exempt from Social Security tax Librarian borrowing privileges at the University Library, including free access to the 7-FAST Delivery Service Sixty hours of sick time per year Pretty much you get tuition waived and a nice salary.